Indiana Pacers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Central Notes: Turner, Cavs, Jackson, Bulls

December 3rd, 2020 at 5:36pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

After Domantas Sabonis emerged as an All-Star last season, the Pacers almost sent big man Myles Turner to the Celtics during the offseason in a scuttled sign-and-trade deal for forward Gordon Hayward. Turner is striving to maintain his focus for the upcoming season with Indiana and not ruminate on the Boston trade, according to J. Michael of the Indianapolis Star.

“It really was my first time going through something like that,” Turner said. “In the past, you hear your name here and there. This is the first time it really heated up.”

When they shared the court, Turner and Sabonis alternated between the center and power forward positions on offense and defense under the tutelage of former head coach Nate McMillan.

There’s more out of the Central Division:

Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com weighed in on the first day of Cavaliers training camp, where head coach J.B. Bickerstaff has emphasized a culture of accountability. “We’re not too far off. We have the caliber guys here to really make some noise,” recently-added center Andre Drummond said. “If we don’t make it to the playoffs, we’ll be damn close.”
Pistons head coach Dwayne Casey sees new addition Josh Jackson as a reclamation candidate a la power forward Christian Wood, per Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. “It’s the same thing,” Casey notes. “Everyone was saying, ‘Dwane, don’t mess with him. Leave him alone.’ I enjoy people who have a chip on their shoulder, who’ve been almost forgotten about as Josh has been.”
The United Center will not host fans to start the 2020/21 season for Bulls games due to the coronavirus pandemic, the team tweeted on its official account.

Central Notes: Giannis, Bucks, Holiday, Sabonis, Drummond

December 2nd, 2020 at 3:41pm CST by Luke Adams

Asked during an interview on the Greek channel COSMOTE TV about the perception that he wants to win a title without teaming up with any other superstars, Giannis Antetokounmpo clarified that he’d be happy to be part of a roster stacked with star players — if those star players want to come to the Bucks.

“If LeBron (James) and Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis came to Milwaukee, I would have been good with that,” Antetokounmpo said, per Aris Barkas of Eurohoops.net. “I am not (concerned about whether) I am the top, second or third name, OK? Because I want to win.

“… For sure when I was 18 or 19 years old, maybe I didn’t understand what you need to do to win. But right now, I am 25 and I want to win because when I retire, that’s what people will remember. And if I got LeBron, KD, Davis, if all those came, I wouldn’t mind at all. I don’t care if I am the top (player) on the team.”

While Giannis’ comments may fuel speculation about the possibility of him joining the Lakers or another club, it’s worth reiterating that he spoke only about star players coming to Milwaukee to join him. Bucks fans should take some solace in that as Antetokounmpo continues to weigh whether or not to sign a five-year, super-max extension with the franchise.

Here’s more from around the Central:

In an episode of The Athletic NBA Show, Sam Amick of The Athletic suggested that the Bucks‘ trade for Jrue Holiday had an impact on the team’s pursuit of Bogdan Bogdanovic, since it reduced the swingman’s projected role and may have affected how much the team could comfortably offer Bogdanovic in free agency. Dan Feldman of NBC Sports has the details.
Speaking on Wednesday to reporters, including Brendan Rourke of Pacers.com, newly re-signed Pacers guard Justin Holiday explained why he “hates” free agency. “I feel like I’m one of the guys, for whatever reason, I’m not ever really respected as far as how much you get paid,” Holiday said. However, he added that he likes the Pacers organization and the city of Indianapolis and he’s happy to have signed a multiyear deal to remain in Indiana for the foreseeable future.
Pacers big man Domantas Sabonis believes that the left foot injury that sidelined him during the NBA’s restart is behind him, as J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star details.
In his first media session of the season this week, Cavaliers center Andre Drummond said his plan “was always to come back to Cleveland,” writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. There was never any real doubt that Drummond would turn down his $28.75MM option for 2020/21, but he said he’s also looking forward to providing guidance to a young roster. “Being here in Cleveland, the opportunities are endless here and I can do great things,” Drummond said.

Oladipo Insists He Hasn't Demanded Trade

December 1st, 2020 at 12:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Pacers guard Victor Oladipo has been the subject of trade rumors but he insists he didn’t ask to be dealt, according to Eric Woodyard of ESPN (Twitter link). “I never came out and said that I didn’t want to play for the Pacers or be in this organization,” he said. Oladipo, who said he think he’s much healthier than he was last season, added that he feels pressure to prove that he’s still an All-Star caliber player. “It feels like the world (is) on my back and I’ve got to make sure I hold it up,” he said.

Contract Details For Kelan Martin

November 30th, 2020 at 9:35am CST by Luke Adams

Kelan Martin‘s new two-year deal with the Pacers features a $723K partial guarantee in year one and is non-guaranteed in year two, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Indiana is now over the luxury tax line by $577K, though I expect the team will look to sneak back below that line later in the season, whether or not Martin remains on the roster.

Pacers Sign Guards Cassius Stanley, Naz Mitrou-Long

November 29th, 2020 at 1:49pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Pacers have finalized agreements with two guards, signing rookie Cassius Stanley to a two-way contract and Naz Mitrou-Long to an Exhibit 10 deal, according to a press release on the team’s official site.

Indiana selected Stanley with the No. 54 pick in the 2020 draft out of Duke. The 6’6″ guard started all of his 29 games during his lone season with Duke in 2019/20, averaging 12.6 PPG and 4.9 RPG, while converting on 36% of his 3.0 long-range attempts a night. After two seasons with the Jazz, Mitrou-Long appeared in five games for the Pacers last season, averaging 9.4 MPG.

The announcement also confirmed several other previously-reported signings. Forward JaKarr Sampson will return for his second season with Indiana on a fully-guaranteed veteran’s minimum deal. Wing Kelan Martin, formerly with the Timberwolves, will join the Pacers on a two-year deal, though the speculation is that it will not be fully-guaranteed.

Forward Brian Bowen II, who suited up for six games with the Pacers last season, will occupy the club’s second two-way player contract slot alongside Stanley.

Mitrou-Long joins center Amida Brimah and forward Rayshaun Hammonds as the Pacers with Exhibit 10 contracts. All three will join the team for training camp, with an opportunity to make the club’s opening night roster. These are one-year, minimum salary deals that can carry an optional player bonus ranging from $5K to $50K.

Pacers Sign Brian Bowen To Two-Way Contract

November 27th, 2020 at 8:06pm CST by Dana Gauruder

NOVEMBER 28: Bowen’s two-way deal has been finalized, according to RealGM’s log of official transactions.

NOVEMBER 27: The Pacers made Brian Bowen an unrestricted free agent, then decided to bring him back.

Bowen will return to Indiana on a two-way deal, according to Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files. Indiana didn’t extend a qualifying offer to Bowen prior to free agency after he played his rookie season on a two-way deal.

The small forward appeared in just six games with the Pacers last season. He averaged 16.1 PPG and 7.7 RPG in 29 games with the G League’s Fort Wayne Mad Ants.

Bowen played professionally in Australia during the 2018/19 season for the Sydney Kings before going undrafted.

Indiana has its other two-way spot available. Check out our Two-Way Contract Tracker for the latest updates.

Pacers, Kelan Martin Agree To Deal

November 26th, 2020 at 11:27am CST by Luke Adams

The Pacers and free agent wing Kelan Martin have agreed to a deal, agent Mike Lindeman tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Wojnarowski indicates the agreement covers two years. However, as Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via Twitter), Indiana had been about $1.12MM below the luxury tax line with 14 players on guaranteed contracts. As such, Martin’s deal – which would count for $1.62MM for tax purposes – seems unlikely to be fully guaranteed unless the team has another move lined up to sneak back below the tax line.

Martin emerged as a rotation player in Minnesota last season, averaging 6.4 PPG and 3.1 RPG in 31 games (16.0 MPG), though he struggled with his shot (.392 FG%, .260 FT%).

The 25-year-old initially received a qualifying offer from the Timberwolves, making him a restricted free agent. The club withdrew that QO on Sunday though, allowing him to become unrestricted and to sign outright with Indiana.

Central Notes: Pacers, Hayward, Kennard, Pistons, Bucks, Bulls

November 25th, 2020 at 11:12pm CST by Luke Adams

In a pair of stories, Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files and J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star (subscription required) provide a few additional details on the Pacers‘ pursuit of Gordon Hayward in free agency, confirming that the Celtics sought a second starting player in addition to Myles Turner in a potential Hayward sign-and-trade. That lines up with what Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe reported last week.

Agness says that Hayward and his family purchased a home in the Indianapolis area over a year ago and that his wife was excited about the possibility of moving back to Indiana. However, Ainge apparently drove a hard bargain in trade discussions — Michael reports that even an offer of Turner, a first-round pick, and a rotation player (possibly Doug McDermott, as Washburn reported) wasn’t enough to win over the Celtics.

It’s possible that the hard line drawn by Ainge wouldn’t have ultimately mattered — the Hornets‘ offer of four years and $120MM was about $15MM higher than the Pacers were willing to go, according to Agness. That difference certainly may have been enough to lure Hayward to Charlotte even if the Pacers and Celtics had agreed to trade terms.

Still, both Agness’ and Michael’s reports seem to suggest there was a window when the two teams’ inability to work out a sign-and-trade agreement may have been the only thing standing in the way of Hayward going to Indiana. According to Michael, once the Hornets put their $120MM offer on the table, Ainge wanted to go back to the Pacers to negotiate in “good faith,” but Hayward’s agent Mark Bartelstein “pulled the plug” on that as the veteran forward chose Charlotte.

Here’s more from around the Central:

It flew under the radar a little since it wasn’t reported as part of the initial agreement, but the Pistons gave up an eye-popping four second-round picks in their deal that sent Luke Kennard to the Clippers and landed them No. 19 pick Saddiq Bey. According to ESPN’s Zach Lowe (Insider link), those four second-rounders “appear to have been in part the cost of Kennard’s past knee issues.” However, Kennard’s camp is confident those issues are behind him, and it seems the Clippers are too, writes Lowe.
While the 2020 draft may not be packed with future stars, Pistons general manager Troy Weaver said his club “really liked” this year’s class, which was why the team traded for multiple extra picks. “We liked the players that were in it and we just felt there were quality young men that could help continue to build our program, we were aggressive,” Weaver said, per Rod Beard of The Detroit News. Referring to Bey, Killian Hayes, Isaiah Stewart, and Saben Lee, the Pistons’ GM added, “Hopefully, we can look back in time and call this our core four.”
The failed Bogdan Bogdanovic sign-and-trade was a bad look for the franchise, but Matt Velazquez of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (subscription required) contends there’s a case to be made that the Bucks will ultimately be better off with the moves they made instead. Not landing Bogdanovic allowed Milwaukee to offer more than the minimum to add role players like D.J. Augustin, Bobby Portis, and Bryn Forbes, and the team didn’t end up having to part with promising 23-year-old Donte DiVincenzo.
In his latest mailbag, K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago fields questions about the Bulls‘ surprising No. 4 draft pick and the club’s relatively quiet free agent period.

Details On The Celtics' Decision Not To Trade For Turner

November 25th, 2020 at 9:58pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Celtics had an opportunity to add Pacers big man Myles Turner in a sign-and-trade package deal for departing forward Gordon Hayward. Zach Lowe of ESPN believes that Turner “would probably be a Celtic” if the club really wanted to add him.

Thunder Trade Lecque To Pacers For Leaf, Second-Round Pick

November 25th, 2020 at 7:02pm CST by Luke Adams

NOVEMBER 25: The deal between the Pacers and the Thunder is now official, with the Thunder acquiring Leaf and a 2027 second-round pick in exchange for Lecque, the team announced in a press release.

NOVEMBER 22: The Thunder are acquiring yet another draft pick, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that Oklahoma City will receive a future second-round pick and forward T.J. Leaf from the Pacers in a deal that sends guard Jalen Lecque to Indiana.

Lecque, a former Sun, was one of the players sent to the Thunder in this week’s Chris Paul trade. He signed a four-year contract with Phoenix as an undrafted free agent a year ago, but only saw action in five NBA games as a rookie. The 20-year-old has a guaranteed $1.52MM salary this season with no guarantees beyond for 2020/21.

It’s not clear whether the Pacers are intent on keeping and developing Lecque, since the move appears to be financially motivated too. As Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files tweets, moving Leaf’s $4.33MM salary for ’20/21 will allow Indiana to slip back below the luxury tax line.

The Thunder will acquire yet another future draft pick as a sweetener for taking on that extra salary, adding another second-rounder to the long list of draft assets GM Sam Presti has picked up during the last couple offseasons.

It doesn’t seem safe to assume this offseason that any newly-acquired player will remain in Oklahoma City for long, but if the Thunder hang onto Leaf, they’ll be getting a player who hasn’t carved out a regular rotation role since being drafted 18th overall in 2017. He averaged just 3.0 PPG and 2.5 RPG in 28 games (7.9 MPG) for the Pacers in 2019/20.